Mythology
describes Narcissus falling
in love with his image in a pool. An egotist is someone who is
"self-centered" and has an exaggerated view of her or his worth
and talents. Some
wounded people have an
overactive
Guardian subself which may be
called the Egotist / Narcissist.S/He causes such people to be "full of themselves," have a "swelled
head," and ignore or discount
other people.

This well-meaning
personality subself may team up with
a Selfish Child
("Fill my needs now!"), anEntitled One, Aggressive Child;
a Competitor, who
cease-lessly strives to "be better" than other people; and/or a
Judge, who's specialty is
criticizing other people. A clever
Magician subself can
provide convincing reasons this superior, self-centered attitude is justified.

A
typical
Egotist/ Narcissist subself strives tirelessly to protect one or
more Shamed subselves from
feeling that they're worthless, disgusting, inept,
and un-lovable. The Anxious Child, Abandoned Child, and
Catastrophizer, are
sure if
other people knew how worthless the person was, they'd scorn, reject and
aban-don him or her - just as early caregivers did in real life. Alternatively,
shame-based parents' subselves over-praised their young child, set few limits,
and didn't encourage and model genuine humility and respect for other people.

Effective
recovery from psychological wounds
(Lesson 1) evolves healthier ways to protect
Inner Kids from excessive
shame, guilt, and fears - partly by encouraging Guardians like the Egotist
/ Narcissist to trust the true Self, Higher Power, and
healthy other people, and relax. As this happens, an "egotistical" person be-comes
notably more empathic and aware of others, and more considerate and supportive
in their relationships.